HBO options Bernie Madoff biography

By IBT Staff Reporter11/04/11 AT 9:31 PM

Bernard Madoff walks back to his apartment in New York December 17, 2008. Photo: Reuters

HBO has optioned Laurie Sandell's new Bernie Madoff biography Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family to mine as source material for its upcoming project about the infamous swindler, a source familiar with the project confirms to TheWrap.

The film, which is being produced by Robert De Niro and his Tribeca Productions partner Jane Rosenthal, will also be based on Diane Henrique's Madoff bio The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust.

Sandell's Madoff book, which was published on October 31, received significant exposure on Sunday's episode of 60 Minutes.

It's expected that De Niro will play Madoff, who bilked thousands of investors out of an estimated $18 billion.